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This afternoon I learned that a gardening friend that didn't live too far from me died this morning, apparently from a heart attack. John Henry Smith was 62 years old. I am a member of one of the local American Legions, and John Henry was too (he wasn't John-he was John Henry), Vietnam Vet, dry sense of humor that was hysterical, SUPER dancer, and if he liked you, he liked you good-if he didn't-beware. We always had a cucumber war every year, who had more, whose were bigger, better and whose made first. I didn't see him often, but I had just thought of him the day I put my fence around my cucumbers-I wondered if John Henry had planted his yet. He made an awesome gumbo, some of the best (and hottest) pickled peppers you could find, loved Merle Haggard & Johnny Cash. I pass his house every day to and from work. I wish I had stopped to see if he had planted his cukes yet.
I will miss you JOHN HENRY SMITH.
It has been an extremely windy day, today-I put the umbrella down so it wouldn't fly next door. I staked and tied up some of the tomatoes-now I feel like I should have even done the small ones! Whew! Even the birds are "just-a-swinging" on the bird feeders. I took a few pictures this evening while puttering around:
The daylillies are starting to bloom-the reds always do first:
These are pretty much in shade almost all day-this is supposed to be a "temp" bed, but I believe it has turend into a regular bed. I just couldn't help but take a picture of the "PINK" portion of the flower bed-These are pink roses from my Mom's yard, pink snapdragons and hot pink petunias
The amaryliss are quickly dying off, and I REALLY NEED to divide the pink & white stiped ones badly. They are growing in a pot that is just stuffed. I had some deep red ones bloom, and some kind of coral/white bloom, but the petals all appeared to be 'water stained". That may have been from a frost when they were budding-just don't know. I cut one for the neighbor's grandson to bring to his Mommy (he's 2). He came over to visit Menut (that's Peanut the dog) I couldn't get his picture-maybe another time.
The vegetable garden is taking off! I tied up some tomatoes, and the fence is up for the cucumbers, if they decide to finally start running. Beans are laying sideways (wind), but they will be blooming, soon, too! I have buds on the eggplant, and the bell peppers are blooming, too-they are in the flower bed (check the PINK photo) If you can see the 7 inch high pepper plant next to the snapdragons you can just make out the little bell pepper on it! Here's the 2 garden beds:
I planted quite a few things in large tubs because even though the bed is raised some, it still does not drain well, And I can control water and fertilizer better for a higher yield. Since December, we had rain until sometime in March. Now, if it doesn't rain tonight or tomorrow, we will set a record for the driest April, ever. And we are now in a rain deficent!
That's all from my little corner of the world-Have a good night!
Later Gators.
My brand new washer was delivered FINALLY yesterday afternoon! No leaks! No squeaks! It has a water level sensor, so I just throw in the clothers & w.p., and the machine does the rest! Now I can get MY Obama $100.00 stimulus! (I didn't think I would qualify! Not enough kids or not on welfare or too much education) Anyway-it's here! The refrigerator door is fixed, and apparently the door had slowly been opening for over a year-Anything that comes out of the frig now is ice cold! And I didn't have to buy a new one! My A/C on the other hand-well-praying it makes the summer-but summer's just starting and it's not doing too good-COME ON LOTTERY!
While waiting on the delivery yesterday I got the fence up around my 2 cucumbers and planted that 3rd hill for the 3rd time. Worked my one row of beans, propped up the Sunflowers (we have had some helacious winds!), I started staking, fencing my tomatoes and all vegetables got a drink mix of Epsom Salts & Miracle Grow. I have lots of blooms on my tomatoes and my bell peppers, too. My squash are B eAuTiFUL this year! I've been "powdering" those stems-I'm determined to keep squash borers away this year.
Daylillies are starting to bloom-the BottleBrush Tree is in full bloom-The Passionflower vine has sprouted up, and the Hydrangea is full of buds. I should have Asiatic Lillies blooming soon, and the pansies and petunias are showing stress. I need 4 full days off to do what has to be done, but it can't happen. :(
I have a post in "Over the Garden Fence" that you should read-My feelings were hurt & I got a big ole case of Pss off after reading that one particular post. But I waited a whole day to reply.
Hope you have a wonderful, sunny day!
We had a great time! It was a 2 1/2 hour drive, good highway all the way and the weather turned out beautiful after a foggy, drizzling rain start. I arrived at Reba's to fresh fried fish, hushpuppies & coleslaw-all so good. We took a look around the yard: This is a couple of stumps with various flowers planted around it with lots of little bird houses hanging from the larger trees:
She has an LSU colored flower bed-Those purple petunias are just beautiful-I'm kind of partial to purple!
Here is a side flower bed-purple verbena, some iris-it was just all so pretty-And flawless-not a chewed or damaged leaf anywhere! You can see her vegetable plot far in the back.
I really wish I had taken more pictures of her beds-they are beautifully done!
We took off for Monroe and visited her aunt's little nursery. It is mostly geraniums, but they are all so perfect and so colorful! Her aunt is in her 80's, but is a crackerjack lady! She had a double-fowered azalea in bloom (and I didn't get a pic!) that I have never seen before. She didn't know its name, but Reba may try to do a root-from-the-ground trick on it. Looked like little tiny roses on the bush. We visited another nursery in the area and I picked up a few things there. We had a great visit, and conversation flowed freely.
Reba presented me with a flower pot arrangement, and some other little goodies in a bag-It was like Christmas! Thank you, Reba! Now, she & Mickey have to come visit me, and we'll do a river ride again, and eat some crawfish! Here's the pot she made, and the things I picked up at the nurseries. The plants I bought will go in the big pots I have that outrageous Swiss Chard in and the dying snapdragons. She also started a Weigelia for me, and gave me those little dwarf cockscomb-I had never seen those before-or even those colors! It was all Very Nice!
It was a fun day and I hope to do it again!
Ya'll have a good Sunday!
A few days ago Witt said her Iris were starting to bloom-so I had to go look at mine and YES-they're starting to bloom too! My backyard neighbor told me he has some yellow ones, too, so when they are through blooming I'm going to get a few of those! I'll be all LSU'd up!
These are so smooth, they look like velvet!
My little Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow shrub is really blooming this year. I want to plant it in the ground, but it is hardy only to 30 degrees, so I'm undecided. It has the most AWESOME smell!
It is so called because the flowers open deep purple, tomorrow those flowers will turn to lavender and on the 3rd day they are white-yesterday, today & tomorrow!
In mid winter I plant my snapdragons & petunias and this year I made 2 planters with Swiss Chard in the middle and the snaps & pansies around them. Well, the petunias & snaps started out good-then the aphids & white flies got in them something terrible-I washed & sprayed and left alone-now we are getting some real warm days, and the flowers are dying out-I believe this Swiss Chard is going to seed! It's about 3 ft. tall or more! (you can see my iris patch in the background next to the fence. St. Joseph lillies are the red flowers in the background to the right.)
I will be discarding these plants soon and re-potting with summer annuals. I don't eat the chard, but I thought it was real colorful. Hope you liked!
Later Gators.
I came home at lunch to check on the dog and looking out the back door, I almost couldn't believe it!! I had (I counted!) about 25 Indigo Buntings at 3 feeders along with the usual doves and pigeons! It was unreal! I tried to take a pic, but as soon as I opened the door, they all took off...and didn't come back. :(. This evening I had about 5-6 buntings-not the full herd like midday!
I believe I am possessed with a "strange bird happenings" aura... This morning when I got to work, there was a sparrow on the front walk, and I got right up to him-he didn't move-just turned his head and looked at me. So we looked at each other for a while, and I stooped to see if I could pick him up-and he flew directly into the window on the opposite side of the door. He was phased-he stayed on the ledge-so I just left him alone-I checked about 30 minutes later & he was gone.
AND-a few days ago, sitting on the patio almost at dark-out of the corner of my eye, I saw the hummingbird feeder move. I have 2 native hummers that come to it every now and then,but, I have NEVER seen THIS before! A bird, kind of a sparrow, was hanging off the feeder drinking from it ! It was sparrow size, but had a little bit longer tail-so, I googled "nectar feeding birds" and GOSH! I didn't know there were so many! And, yes, some sparrows drink nectar-and so do about 50 other common birds! PEEPS!! I ain't never seen that before!!!
What is going on? 50 goldfinches, 25 Indigo Buntings, 15 doves & 10 cardinals. A GREEN PARROT, a sparrow on the sidewalk, a bird hanging off the hummingbird feeder and a blue Grosbeak! OMG! I've seen the rainbow! LOL!! I don't know if I can stand more excitement-I need a life...
These past several months has been filled with the strangest things. Cold, crazy winter, so far a cooler than usual spring with MORE bugs than I thought we would have because of the cold winter! Earthquakes! Volcanoes!, Floods! and the Hurricane Season AFTER El-Nino is supposed to be a bad one. Hurricanes Katrina, Rita & Wilma were after an El-Nino winter. Sc ARY!
I have seen birds this spring that I have never seen before -or maybe I never noticed? I have 4 of the most gorgeous Indio Buntings in my yard and they have been here a while. For several months I had about 50 or more Goldfinches every day (more than I've ever had before!), and they have usually disappeared by now, but I still have about 10-15 every day. I have seen a hawk swoop into my yard and fly off with a pigeon, I must have 15-20 doves EVERY day, and I now have a Blue Grosbeak visiting my yard. I had to research that one-never saw that before, either! THEN, YESTERDAY, I am puttering around my fence that has been repaired and I heard some squawking right over my head- I looked up there on my Arbor was the most Gorgeous, LIme Green parrot!!! He kept squawking at me and eyeing me, and I could tell he couldn't walk or fly very well. I ran in the house to get the pet carrier to see if I could somehow coax him into it-and he flew to the top of my patio umbrella. Well, Peanut's barking up a storm, and I should have locked him in the house, but, I didn't. He flew back towards the arbor, but couldn't land very well, fell on the ground... and well... Peanut was on him before I could move. I WAS so sad! Such a beautiful bird-and someone's Pet!
I had a very busy weekend. I had/have a lot of odds & ends stuff to be done around my house (for YEARS), and finally figured out Petey was NEVER going to do them. So-I hired someone to do it. For $200.00, this young man finished putting the floor molding in my hall, changed 2 door knobs, hung my heater/light vent in my bathroom (I had the new one in a box in my hall for 3 YEARS!! For 3 years I had no heat in my bathroom). He changed my back storm door (that had been in my garage for 5 years), fixed the door frame that had large gaps in it, and took down my lattice fence, replaced the rotten boards, straightened the posts and put the lattice back up! He looked at, but hasn't done yet-Installing a new garage door opener (it's been broken since H. Rita), fixing 2 posts on my shed, and contemplating what to do about my front walk that is sinking. Oh, and making a gate on Hinges for the west side of my house. BUT, now, my washing machine is broken-bottom rusted out and the pump is leaking badly. And my refrigerator door won't stay closed-so parts are ordered for it. My a/C quit the other day, but a friend got it going-PLEASE LORD, let it last through this summer. It is 15 years old, so I will be looking at replacing it.
Did I tell ya I'm overwhelmed? I am so glad it is turning green around here. I don't know if I could stand any more 'dreary'!
Have a great day!
Yep, my little brother has made 50. Gosh, that makes me feel so old! We've been though a lot, my brother & me-good times, sad times, eatin' times & fightin' times. Many times we are thinking the exact same thing! Tomorrow I will try to post some old pictures at work-I'm learning our scanner! I have a lot going on today-painting fence, cleaning the patio, On & ON.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PETE! Love Ya!
There is a red one with a large bud now, and the St. Joseph's are fixing to bloom, too. I lost several of my St. Joe's this year, I think, I usually have them coming up everywhere. I have 2 more of these in some other pots fixing to bloom, too. I couldn't wait-had to show these!
Last year, this one had more color in it-but I move it to more sun-maybe it faded?
And a final one of the patio at this date
I love my chile pepper red chairs. They are so comfortable! Yesterday I saw a new, different bird at the feeder. He kind of looked like a blue cardinal. After research, he is a Blue Grosbeak. Unusual bunch of birds this year I have rarely seen before! Almost scary?
HAVE A GREAT DAY! Take Time to Enjoy the Flowers!
So-how are YOUR allergies! It is b-a-d this year! Luckily, I am not highly allergic to the pollens, but I do have a sneezing fit every now and then, and my eyes water some. But, my poor little dog is! I had to bathe him, rub his belly and arm (?)pits with cortizone cream, give him predisone AND Benadryl, and lock him in the house. Poor little fella is miserable! I hate giving him the pred., it makes him fat-he's gained 2 lbs in 2 weeks and for a dog that should only weigh about 12 lbs, that's a LOT! It's either that or scratch 24/7.
I went to the Garden Club's plant sale Saturday-I should have stayed home. It was kind of pitiful. They didn't have anything I didn't already have, and I kind of laughed-they had seedling trees for sale-Like the little oaks that will come up in your flower bed-ya' know-about 8 inches high-for a dollar. Kind of mm? ______fill in the blank. I did find some cushions and a new umbrella for my patio set-Chili Pepper Red.
My Amarylis are starting to bloom-saving pics for then. I have 3 pink&white striped ones starting bloom, and a red one, also. My BIG plumbago is coming back -part of it anyway! I will have to chop it out of the big pot it is in and repot it in a suitable container-or put in the ground. I cleaned up some of the potted plants, and check the plant graveyard and actually threw some things away. Old pots that were falling apart-some plants that I knew were totally dead. My Mother-in-law tongue is one of those-I thought NOTHING would kill that plant-I'd had it for about 20 years. I kept some root that looks somewhat ok and will see what happens with it. My ferns are more dead that alive-so, I chopped them up, and repotted some pieces. They will come back, it will just take a while. I did discover that I am overrun with Kalanchoes and aloe-vera plants. I also lost my big hoya-but I did find a cutting that I stuck in a pot with some bromeliads that took, so I'll have to pot that up on its own. Even the Cannas are slow this year, and I can see where they are thin in places-which is ok-I have so many! So, for the taking, I have Cannas, white butterfly ginger, aloe vera & some red kalanchoes.
The vegetable garden is almost starting to look like a garden. Again, this year, my cucumbers are slow, slow. But, my zuchinni is taking off! That's what I want! I have some flower buds showing on my bell peppers and my jalepeno. Every thing got a good dose of fertilizer this weekend that is in the backyard. I will be doing the side and front this week.
Amaryliss pictures in a couple of days!
Later Gators!
I tried and tried to get some good close-ups of this little bird. I have seen them before in past years-just not for long. I had one, two days ago, and yesterday evening I had 2, then 3, then 5! The female has very little of the blue coloring and is very inconspicuous, so I don't really know if any of the girls were there or not-but I would bet they are. Such a BRIGHT BLUE they are! And ALL blue!
They have a very yellow beak. I had lots of redbirds and doves yesterday evening, too. Kind of colorful against the green grass!
My brother posted his azaleas blooming, mine are too. They're blooming all over town, and it is just a colorful world around here! I have some darker ones in the back, but they are much smaller.
I am so excited about my zuchinni-the plants are already bigger than the ones you buy at the store, and they look so healthy! I sure hope I make some this year-cause I had very few last year!
The L.C. Garden Club is having a plant sale tomorrow, and we drove by at lunch to see what it would be like. Actually, I thought it was today! They have lots of plumerias and sago palms, some orchids, and various bulbs-they said there would be lots more tomorrow, so I'll try to get there before noon!
Have a nice weekend! I'll be cutting grass and pulling weeds!
Hello, all. I hope everyone had a nice Easter. Mine was quiet-no big deal. Me & Petey had grilled steaks yesterday afternoon sitting on his front porch and watching the river goings-on. The weather was nice-in the lower 80's-and I will NOT say it was hot! Not yet!! His pretty little cat, Tabby, sat with us.
She has the prettiest green eyes. Sparrows have built their nests under his porch, and she tries to hang off the porch to get to them.
It was a fix-it weekend. We cut down my big Confederate Rose that was starting to lean on the 2 back neighbor's fences. It was splitting in the middle and starting to rot anyway. I have another in the front yard, and I think I like that this one is gone. I will miss it's fall blooms, though. I trimmed some low hanging branches off the crepe myrtles and re-potted a couple of house plants that almost didn't survive the winter. They are smaller now, but they'll come back! A lot of things that I was unsure of are starting to show signs of survival. My Princess Flower is returning, also! Yay! Still no sign of the sweet potato vines. Vegetables are doing good-I finally have beans breaking through the ground! I re-planted a week ago!
The azaleas are blooming all around town-mine are just starting-I'll have a picture of them in a couple of days. Petey has this blooming in his front yard-This "hysteria" is everywhere!
The bees are just lovin' it! Can't you just smell it?
This stuff is everywhere! That's why we call it "Hysteria"!
I'll have some more pictures in a day or so-Hope you liked!
Every afternoon I find a few more things b a r e l y sprouting, and the dollar weed is dying and the grass is greening. In the last few days I have found the Amaryliss shooting up it's large buds, I see a couple of nubs of the Black Stemmed Elephant Ears coming back-The ALAMANDA has some tiny shoots at it's base! Hurray! The Bird of Paradise has some green, and my zucchini has sprouted!!
The day lillies are getting huge, the Butterfly Gingers are sprouting and the roses are starting to bud (barely). So much to do!! I drug the hose to the big bird bath under my arbor to fill it, and hosed off some of the pine pollen off some of the plants, turned around and saw this beautiful surprise!
I moved it this year (it is in a large pot) where it is getting a lot more sun. I will have to devise a way to shield it from the hot mid-summer sun, but this Clematis is FULL of buds-20 or more!
The snapdragons have taken their time this year, but they are finally blooming like they should! I am already having a hard time with aphids! They're everywhere!
I have others in the ground, but they are not near as full as these in the pot!. I found some more little shoots on my hibiscus, and the crepe myrtles are Finally showing some leaflets. I planted some coleus this evening-and I want to plant my last 2 tomatoes (they will be in large pots). I sure have a lot I want to do this weekend-Hope I feel like it! I slipped and fell flat on my back in my kitchen 2 days ago and my chest has been hurting Maybe cracked ribs? I had a sneezing fit a while ago and my chest sure hurt-what can you do for cracked ribs? Not much, I think!
All have a nice Good Friday, fast and reflect-If I am not back on-HAVE A HAPPY EASTER!
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